Government

Electric rates in the town of Bedford will likely increase 4 percent Feb. 1, if council approves a resolution it is expected to consider next Tuesday.
That increase would be in addition to a 3 percent increase that went into effect this past July 1.
The resolution is being prepared for consideration following council’s called meeting Tuesday afternoon where it met—via computer—with a representative of Utility Financial Solutions LLC about the financial issues of the electric department.

There is a relationship between rights and consequences, although recent events might have you thinking otherwise.
Two major incidents have pundits screaming about first amendment rights: the Sony hacking and the Paris massacre.

They got some good news.
Bedford County’s supervisors spent the day together, Saturday, at an all-day retreat held at the Bedford Welcome Center. They were briefed by county staff on the county’s financial status and a solution for a problem created by the county’s C-2 commercial zoning on the western parts of Va. 24 and U. S. 460.
“It was one of the better ones we’ve had,” commented District 1 Supervisor Bill Thomasson.

On a 6-1 vote, District 7 Supervisor Tammy Parker was elected to serve as the upcoming year’s chairman of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors used their first meeting of the new year for its organizational meeting. District 2 Supervisor Curry Martin cast the lone dissenting vote against Parker. District 3 Supervisor Steve Wilkerson was elected vice chairman.

As Virginia has state and county elections in odd numbered years, it means voters in the commonwealth have an election every year.
And this will be a big election year locally.
Bedford County voters will elect people to four school board seats and four board of supervisors seats — those in Districts 1, 5, 6 and 7. They will also vote for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Treasurer and Commissioner of the Revenue, along with two soil and water commissioners.

District 5 Supervisor Steve Arrignton announced his resignation at the Board of Supervisors’ last meeting in 2013. Now, more than a year later, he’s still on the board. Arrington has never specified a date for the resignation to take effect.

Arrington is a builder and he cited some large projects in North Carolina, that he’s working on, as the reason for resigning. In an interview, he cited some zoning issues he was addressing and “trying to prevent the tax increase” as his reasons for staying on.

Within the next couple of years a new middle school will be built to replace Bedford Middle School in the Liberty zone.
While there will be much excitement about opening the new school—once it is built—the current middle school building will then become vacant. So what will its future be?
Bedford Town Council has selected a group of local individuals to help guide that decision.

James Youngblood has filed both a claim with Bedford County and a complaint in Bedford County Circuit Court concerning what he alleges is a promise by Bedford County to build a state maintained road across a 257 acre tract he owns.